Heavy metal mobilisation on small-arms firing ranges
Supervisor:
Dr Gary Owens, Future Fellow – Mawson Institute, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia
Phone: +61 8 8302 5043. Email: gary.owens@unisa.edu.au
Area: Environmental Science (Remediation)
Suitable for: PhD and Masters
Abstract:
Small-arms firing ranges exist on a number of military bases throughout Australia where a stop
butt, typically constructed from a mixture of sand and straw, is used to trap spent ammunition
following firing. Eventually, the stop butt becomes overloaded with metallic projectiles and is
dismantled and the large metallic fragments sieved from the straw/sand mixture as they pose
a risk of ricochet. The larger metallic fractions are sent for metal recycling while the finer sand
particulates are used to reconstitute the stop butt. However, current practice ignores the
potentially more mobile and toxic finer fractions of Pb bearing sands that may be present at
these sites within the finer sand fractions. Additionally, when such sites become
decommissioned there is a need to have remedial options available that can return the site
free of risk for alternate uses. A variety of management strategies are available for
remediation Pb contamination on small-arms firing ranges including 1) Soil Washing - Particle
Separation 2) Soil Stabilization and 3) Soil Washing - Chemical Extraction. This project will
evaluate all three remedial options.
Related references:
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Maria Chrysochoou, Dimitris Dermatas and Dennis G. Grubb (2007) Phosphate application to firing range
soils for Pb immobilization: The unclear role of phosphate, Journal of Hazardous Materials,144, 1–14.
Jaana Sorvari, Riina Antikainen and Outi Pyy (2006) Environmental contamination at Finnish shooting
ranges—the scope of the problem and management options, Science of the Total Environment, 366, 21–
31.
Brett H. Robinson, Simone Bischofberger, Andreas Stoll, Dirk Schroer, Gerhard Furrer, Ste´phanie Roulier,
Anna Gruenwald, Werner Attinger and Rainer Schulin (2008) Plant uptake of trace elements on a Swiss
military shooting range: Uptake pathways and land management implications, Environmental Pollution,
153(3), 668-76.
About Adelaide:
Adelaide is the capital of South Australia and offers a very high standard of living (top 6 in the
world according to “The Economist”), with great climate, food, wine, beautiful unspoiled
nature and beach environments, in an inexpensive setting.
The Mawson Institute (MI) has recently been established at the University of South Australia,
with strong support from the South Australian Government to research new manufacturing
technologies. Manufacturing is an important and substantial part of South Australia’s
economic base. The MI promotes a strategy based upon strong basic and applied research
that encourages scientific and technological innovation within the manufacturing sector.
Fundamental to this is the Institute’s multidisciplinary approach, building research teams in
concentrations that encompass a diverse range of disciplines, and collaboration with partners
from both academia and industry.
The institute is based in two new state-of-the-art buildings with outstanding research facilities
(see photo of the MM building).
For more information on this project please contact the supervisor.